Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has not ruled out using its subpoena powers to summon the new treasurer of the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) to attend its sittings as it reviews the Auditor General’s report into allegations of malpractices at the scandal-hit institution.
The committee today rejected suggestions from CMU Chairman Professor Gordon Shirley that the newly-appointed treasurer had her hands full in producing a backlog of annual reports, among other things, that made it difficult for her to appear before the oversight committee.
Committee member Dr Morais Guy said that Shirley’s position was unacceptable, noting that the committee was advised initially that after two weeks on the job, the new treasurer would attend the PAC meetings.
Guy argued that the new treasurer had an obligation to show up at the PAC meetings, irrespective of whether she was there during the period of the report or not.
The committee meets every two weeks for an average of three hours and as such, Golding said: “I don’t think it is reasonable for the CMU chairman to be telling us that the treasurer can’t attend our meetings.”
